Change Your Mind
change your mind a one-shot by stork enjoy! <3 preface "I don't need you to respect me, I respect me I don't need you to love me, I love me But I want you to know you could know me, If you change your mind, If you change your mind, If you change your mind, Change your mind..." - Zach Callison, "Change Your Mind" from the season five finale of Steven Universe change your mind The night is young as the Clan is called together by Streamstar. "On this day, a year ago, we witnessed something that changed our lives." Her voice is loud, clear, and vibrant; it echos loudly in the camp. "Someone in our Clan revealed something we'd never thought we'd ever have to deal with." "For those who don't know the tale, allow me to being." Next to Streamstar stands her deputy, Gorsewhisker. "Those of you who have been with us through this will remember Egretsplash." * Egretsplash realized everything was wrong when he saw the state of his group. The group had tried to become a new Clan - consisting of members from the old lake Clans, they'd all been driven out for trying for a brighter future. So they decided they'd do it themselves. However, there was a fatal flaw in all of them - none of them had any sense of good in them. And it wasn't like they'd all come from ShadowClan, either - they were all from different Clans. Many of them had pent up anger inside of them, just waiting to go out. Some were upset over old mates and lovers. Some were upset that they'd been exiled, their views firmly on the fact that only they were right. And some had done actually terrible actions - Egretsplash himself had accidentally drowned someone while trying to escape from a raging river. He didn't really like acknowledging that. It was just an accident. The guilt still boiled in his throat, though. The snowy white tom was just trying to make everything okay. It wasn't their fault that these cats just wanted revenge - right? He approached his friend Streamwing and murmured, "Are you still upset about your family?" "Of course I am," she groaned. "I bare kits in my apprenticeship, then I find that the tom's betrayed my trust as soon as I hit warriorhood?" She sighed. "It's hard for me to get over that." "Hey... come on, Streamwing, you'll get over that.." She inhaled, but didn't say anything. Her eyes scrunched closed and she dug her claws into the ground. "I... I don't know how to get over it." "Well," he murmured, "talk to me. I'm sure you'll feel better if you talk to me." "He and I were so close as kits. Even though he was so much older than I am, we were still close." She paused. "He wasn't that much older than me. Anyway, when he pulled me off to the side and said he wanted kits, I... didn't argue." Her ears flattened. "Then two moons later and I'm literally about to give birth and he leaves me." "Keep going." "I don't see how he thought that was okay. And I don't think I ever will." Streamwing's breath released. "All I ever wanted was to be something to someone. Someone other than myself." He let out a small sigh. "You mean something to me, Streamwing." She scoffed quietly. "Everyone means something to you, Egretsplash. You're the only good this group has left." The words took a moment to sink, and he almost didn't hear Streamwing say, "I'm gonna take some time to myself for a bit. See you later." You're the only good this group has left. * "I told him that, but what I didn't know was how much that affected him," Streamstar murmurs, and Gorsewhisker nods. "If it wasn't for Egretsplash, none of us would be the way we are today." * Egretsplash knew that something needed to change - the revenge the cats wanted wasn't going to be resolved through violence, he decided. Nobody wished to listen to his pacifist ways though, so the tom was left on his own. "I just want them to change their minds," he spoke to no one in particular. "I just want to be seen. Respected. I want them to know me as not someone who drowned another cat." His voice quivered. "I want them to know the real me - the one that tries to help rather than harm." "Egretspalsh?" The tom nearly lost his skin as Streamwing spotted him. "What did you mean by all that? Changing our minds?" He hesitated. "What I mean is... I don't want to get revenge on anyone or anything. The reason I'm here is because I drowned someone, on accident. I'm trying to help everyone feel better, and we're just going to look worse if we exact revenge on our old homes." "Isn't that what you want too, Egretsplash?" He shook his head. "No... absolutely not." He inhaled sharply. "I know what I did wrong... and I know that even though I meant no harm, even though I really didn't mean to drown him... I had to let go, because if I didn't, it'd hurt me." She approached him with a gentle look in her eyes. "You've never really mentioned who this cat was - who you drowned, I mean. What were they like?" "Well..." He thought of the cat with regret. "He was this... really pretty brown tabby. We were best friends for years, so much so that I developed a bit of a crush on him." The way she looked when she saw his -'' "We were out by the lake one day. Part of it was frozen over and he said he wanted to play like we used to, as apprentices. We were play fighting, and then... we both broke through. I dragged him out, shivering out of my skin, hoping he was still alive..." "And he wasn't, was he?" "Of course not." His heart winced as he remembered the look over the glassed eyes. "All I saw were his green eyes clouded over, staring into my soul over his frozen fur. I knew I had to drag him back, and when his mate found me... it wasn't pretty." "Did she hurt you?" "Yeah, actually." He licked a paw and ran it over his nicked ear. "She was the one who gave me this nick. Impressive, too - even though she attacked out of anger, several cats admired her on my way out for attacking me while she was expecting his kits." "In leafbare?" "Yeah... The leader of ThunderClan - Thrushstar - exiled me without even asking what had happened. And that's when I ran and ran... and found this group." Streamwing nodded. "Understandable, similar experience to mine." "What are you going to do now, Egretsplash?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. ''What am I going to do? Good question... He thought for a moment. "I've got it." His eyes took a more determined look. "You feel better 'bout the situation with your old mate, right? Since we talked?" "Well, yeah." She blinked. "Something about the way you talked helped me... release." "I need to do that with more of you. We'll be more organized." * tbc! C: